Halloween Props

Here is a list copmiled from the internet of Halloween Props! Please note: This list of Halloween props is to be taken as informational sources only and is to be biewd with caution and care. Some of the Halloween props suggested should be approached with adult supervision.

Halloween Prop: Endless Hallway Illusion

This is a GREAT effect. When a person walks into this hallway, it appears that they have stepped into a dark hallway that goes forever in both directions.
The Illusion is created by two full-length mirrors, one mounted on each end of the hallway (see illustation below). In order for this to be effective, it must be a fairly wide hallway and both of the mirrors should cover the entire width of the hallway. To enhance the effect, fluorescent stripes should be painted on the walls and floor, evenly spaced. Instead of painting, you can use fluorescent tape. The entrance and exit should be completely between the stripes, each covered with a black colored sheet so they can't be seen easily. The hallway should be void of any regular light and is only to be illuminated with black lights.

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Halloween Prop: Living Head on a Table Illusion

This is truly amazing. Picture this: Haunted house customers walk by a round table with a head as a centerpiece! As they start to walk by, its eyes snap open and the head growls at the audience. Upon closer inspection, the onlookers can't see anything under the table either. I saw this one at a haunted house once and just about flipped!

This illusion is created by two mirrors. As the audience passes, they look under the table. But they don't see the rest of the man hiding under the table, they see the reflection of the walls surrounding the table (see illustration). The reason for this is the two mirrors attached to three of the legs of the table. In order for this illusion to work, the mirrors have to extend from the bottom of the tabletop all the way to the floor and have to be wide enough to go completely from leg to leg without any gap in between them and the legs. The ghoul is to sit under the table (hidden from view behind the mirrors), with his head through the hole in the table. To hide the rest of the hole in the table, a platter can be specially cut to fit around the neck of the ghoul or something else could be used to hide the hole (use your imagination). It is important that the walls surrounding the table be painted black (or you can use black sheets). That will make it nearly impossible for anyone to see this is just an illusion.

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Halloween Prop: Metamorphosis Box

This is a great effect, but it takes some time to build. I worked in a haunted house in Genoa, IL for four years and we had this box as a display for a year or so. After that, we used it as a window display in our home. It is really amazing. All of our customers were amazed and no one could figure it out! Here is the effect. The audience looks inside a large black box at an object (pumpkin or whatever), then slowly the object (within full view of the spectators the whole time) morphs into another object!
Like I said, this one is a little time consuming to build. Each one of the three sections of our box was 3 x 3 x 3 feet. This was one huge display. Here is how to do it.
Box 2: Box 2 is going to be a 3x3x3 foot cube made from 1/2 inch plywood. If you want this to be a permanent effect, you may want to use thicker than 1/2 inch plywood. Build Box 2 (as shown in Illustration 1) with one of the sides open (we'll call this the front of the box). Inside the box, on the top piece of plywood, attach your incandescent light fixture and screw in a bulb. Cut a strip of plywood 3 feet long by about 6 inches wide and attach it to the top of the opening of Box 2. This strip will hide the light from view (See Front view of Illustration 2). The width of the strip may vary according to the size of the light fixture. The important thing is that the whole fixture and bulb are hidden from view.
Box 1: Box 1 will be built a little different than box 2. The left side and back panels will be approx. 3x3 feet; however, the top, right side and bottom panels will all be approx. 3x6 feet. I say the measurements are approximate because you will have to adjust your measurements to account for any overlap of the panels when you put the pieces together. As with Box 2, you will also need to mount the light fixture, light bulb and plywood strip on Box number 1 (See Illustration 1 for a general view of the completed Box 1 and the Front View of Illustration 2 for a drawing of how the light fixture and plywood strip are mounted.).
Painting: In order for the effect to work, all of the inner and outer surfaces need to be painted flat black.
Glass: To mount the glass you are going to need to attach several pieces of thin trim so the glass will stay in place (See Illustration 1 for locations where you need to put the trim pieces).
Put it all Together: After you put in the glass and add all the trim, you need to swing Box 2 around and attach it to Box 1 as shown in Illustration 1 and 2.
The Dimmers: See Illustration 4. You need two identical wall mount light dimmer switches to make this work. Mount the switches face to face (as shown in Illustration 4) and connect the shafts together. I used an aluminum coupling piece with set screws to accomplish this. You can use your imagination. Connected in this way, when one light dimmer is turned up, the other is automatically turned down.
Morph: This is how the effect works. Let's start with Light 1 on and Light 2 off. The audience can see the object in Box 1 only. As you turn the knob, Light 1 gets dimmer and Light 2 gets brighter. Now the audience sees the object in Box 1, as well as what is in Box 2 (because Light 2 is on, the audience can see the object in Box 2 through the reflection in the glass). As you turn the knob further Light 1 turns off and Light 2 is on. Now the audience sees only the object in Box 2 through the reflection in the glass. MAGIC!!! See Illustration 3. You may have to experiment with the wattage combinations of the light bulbs (since the reflection will not be as bright of an image as just directly seeing an object, Light 2 may have to be a slightly higher wattage to make the effect look more natural.
Extras: In our haunted house and in our window display, we incorporated a worm-gear drive and reversible motor circuit with the dimmer set-up in Illustration 4 so that it would operate automatically and turn the dimmers back and forth.

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Halloween Prop: Ghost Appears Effect

This effect is the most effective at the end of a hallway. As the audience walks down the hallway, they see a wooden-framed mirror on the wall at the end. As they look into the reflection, the image of a ghost appears in the mirror!
For this effect you need to get a two way mirror or a piece of mirrored plexiglass and mount it in the wall at the end of a hallway. On the front side of the wall, you need to mount some dim lighting that will be on at all times. To make it look like a real mirror hanging on the wall, you should build a wooden frame around the 'mirror'. Behind the wall is a ghost with a light dimmer to dim the lights behind the wall. Behind the wall where the 'ghost' is should be completely black and the light behind the wall should be turned off. At this point, the audience can only see their own reflection. As the they look into the 'mirror', the ghost turns the light dimmer so he is dimly illuminated. The audience can then see their own reflection and also what appears to be the image of the 'ghost' as well.
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Halloween Prop: Tunnel Filckering Lamps

Building "Disney-like" Indiana Jones flickering tunnel lamps is really quite simple. All you need you can find at any electronic store, such as Radio Shack and your local hardware store.
Note: Since this project uses electricity, young children should be monitored by adults when building this project.
Difficulty: Intermediate hobbiest
Parts List

Building Instructions:
String the lights in series to the electrical wire using wire nuts (wire - light socket - wire - light socket ... wire - light socket - return wire)
Drill three holes into the hobby box. One to hold the switch. The other two to allow entry and exit for the electrical wire.
Mount the switch and grommets in the holes.
Mount the two prong electrical plug on a six foot section of electrical wire.
Strip 1/2 inch of insulation off the end on the six foot wire with wall plug, the start of your lamp run, and on either end of a 6 inch single wire section
After pulling it through the grommet, attach one end of the six foot wire to the switch and tighten the restraining screw
Attach the 6 inch wire to the other side of the switch.
Protect the switch with electrical tape
Attach the free end of the 6 inch wire to one end of the flourescent light starter (you can use a starter socket or just twist or solder the wire to the lug)
After pulling it through the grommet, attach one end of the wire attached to the lamps to the other end of the starter
Cover the starter connections with electrical tape.
Attach the last two wire ends together using a wire nut.
Close the hobby box.
Attach the light bulbs to the light sockets. Changing the wattage will change the effect so you might want to experiments with various wattages and mixes.

Backyard Imagineer: Brian Walsh

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Halloween Prop: The Flying Ghost

This ghost was another idea we came up with after a failed attempt at a flying ghost track. We initinaly started off with a grand plan to have a ghost fly through the graveyard, up to the roof, around the top of the house and back down into the graveyard. After months of planning and building, we set up the track for Halloween 1999 only to find out that our plan was too ambitious. The track failed and the ghost kept falling off the track. So, for 2000 we regrouped and built this project using most of the same materials.
We built a 6 foot tall stand out of wood that sat on top of our roof over the garage. A motor that I bought from ebay was attached to the stand. Attached to the motor was a four foot piece of angled steel. We hung a length of close line from the end of the angled steel to the peak of the roof above our bathroom (the room with the rotating body parts). The ghost was hung on the close line with a pulley. With the motor off, and the angled steel arm parallel to the gound, the close line was level with the center shaft of the motor and the peak of the roof above our bathroom. As the motor rotates the arm, the close line is lowerd on the motor side by four feet (the length of the angled steel arm) when it gets to the bottom and vice versa when the arm rotates to the top. The ghost moves side to side along the close line on the pulley, as well as back and forth as the arm rotates toward the front of the house and then back towards the back yard. It is pretty cool!
Behind the Scenes: The ghost is made from cheese cloth, coat hangers, and a foam head. The hands are made out of cardboard. I also put two red LEDs in the foam head for eyes. I sprayed the whole thing with glow in the dark hair spray, then I set up a black light on the roof so the the ghost would glow. We used a clothes line to hang the ghost on, but since it was white, you could see it at night. Next year we are going to use some black rope.

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Thanks to markbutler.8m.com/monsterlist.htm for most of the references: